"Learn by Your Five Senses!" - Interview with Aven Kuei

Like a firefly glimmering in the hot summer nights, Five Senses makes every endeavor to its commitment. Everyone sees and recognizes its efforts and hard work.
from Dr. Francis Y. T. Chang

The publisher translates from the outstanding publications into Chinese language, then distribute to Chinese- speaking areas, such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, China, Singapore, and Malaysia. It is now the first brand in its kind. 5S is also a museum research and planning consultant firm in Taiwan. Her mission is to promote a higher standard of profession by helping whomever commit her/himself to work in arts field. 5S encourages people to learn, explore and enjoy the world of culture by using their eyes, ears, nose, mouth and hands!

AMN: As a publisher, which only focuses on Arts Management Series, what your mission and goal?

5S: 1. Five Senses mission from the very first day of establishment until now is to survive.
2. My goal is to practice myself, body, soul and spirit in order to become an expert in museum practice so that I will be more closed toward the dream of building up a childrens museum base on Chinese culture in my life. What I mean to say is that I want to make myself ready. Ready for what? Ready for, if there were a right opportunity approach me in real. I can positive to say, I am all ready.

AMN: Most publications of Five Senses were translated from USA, UK, Australia, Germany and Austria. Why?

5S: I published what I read and think, especially for those can touched my heart and also can be useful at the current Taiwan arts environment. Because of the limitation on Avens reading range, vision, and her finance background which is made the status of what Aven can serve her field of the past ten years until now.

AMN: Will it change?

5S: Oh, yes, I am always waiting and looking for a chief editor so that I can leave this position.


Aven Kuei

AMN: How are the circumstances of arts / museum management in Chinese speaking countries? What do you think?

5S: Lacking of profession, in another words, it has so many room can be done. I want to quote, it is the worst time but it is also the best time to change.

AMN: And how do you look for the "right" books for Chinese-speaking people?

5S: As the understanding of Chinese-speaking areas and my instinct.

AMN: Please talk about your marketing strategies (experiences) and customers management (readers from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia and oversea.)

5S: The marketing strategies is to play the first brand in this field so whoever need and want to read, will find us like a surprise to discover, which means, I make them to find me, I did not spend time to say who I am and what we are doing, we are quiet. As a matter of fact, we did not play an active role in marketing due to lacking of the human resource and time. May be I shouldnt say so, to be honest, I did not pay my energy to do this, it doesnt mean it is not important; it is because I prefer to work on contents.

AMN: Five Senses is 10-year-old. What were the most difficulties during this decade?

5S: Staff training. Hard to find young generation with sense, attitude, willing and able to learn and mature personality, committed to take responsibility and chose arts field as their life-long career.

AMN: What are the opportunities or advantages, and what are lack of?

5S: Indeed, it has so many opportunities in this time but we did not see creative model and form so far. For example, people started to copy Five Senses, the way of publication, logo, theory, etc. How about we need an arts management service group for helping artist to get grant or sponsorship, a company knows how to write a proposal, a team knows how to link the arts volunteers, an organization knows how to sell the works of arts, a company know how to the PR and deal with press, etc.

AMN: And what does Five Senses want to do in the next 10 years?

5S: Keep going to publish the best book in arts management and museum studies but in our own way. Therefore, I will sign up less foreign languages copyright but develop by ourselves.

For more information: http://www.museum-web.org/e5sweb/index.htm